Impressions
by Angevon
Summary: A collection of Souji & Yosuke tumblr prompts
1. Be more careful next time

[Author's notes: This was written for livefreeordie13 on tumblr. It came from a prompt meme there. The prompt was "Be more careful next time. I don't want to bandage you up again."

A Yu Narukami version is available at Dreamwidth at the following address  
angevon dot dreamwidth dot org/49804 dot html  
Every 'dot' should be a '.']

* * *

Souji was outside the Dojima residence. It was a beautiful day, that twilight of the season where it wasn't quite spring and wasn't quite summer but a happy medium of the two. Inaba, he supposed, wasn't half bad. Would be better without the murders, of course, but he couldn't let the investigation worry him every day. Sometimes you just had to take a break and smell the roses pet a cat.

"Hey partner!" called a familiar voice. Souji looked up from where he was crouched and blinked in surprise.

Yosuke was riding his bike, feet off the pedals, letting it coast down the street towards Souji and grinning in that cheeky way of his. "Check this out!" he said.

All of a sudden Yosuke pulled up on the handlebars. The bike's front tire lifted from the ground. The wheelie attempt ended in failure as the bike suddenly toppled over. Yosuke was ejected violently from his seat, sliding painfully against the asphalt several feet before grinding to a halt.

Souji reacted quickly, rising to his feet, ignoring the cat's yowl of protest at him for not petting it anymore, and rushed to Yosuke's side. "Are you all right?"

A stream of curses was Yosuke's reply. If he could swear that much, he was probably okay?

"Yeah," Yosuke confirmed when he got it all out of his system. "Glad I didn't hit my head."

While he was bringing his hand up to his head, Souji caught a flash of blood on his wrist. He grabbed Yosuke's arm and turned it over to inspect it. Sure enough, the skin on the side of his hand was torn where it had scraped against the ground and it was seeping blood.

"Come inside," Souji ordered, and Yosuke didn't protest when he was pulled into the Dojima residence.

In fact, he was quiet the whole time when Souji began treating the wound with a first aid kit. He'd mostly skinned his hand, but a sharp rock had pierced his palm too. After rinsing it with water at the kitchen sink, Souji applied alcohol to disinfect it. Yosuke hissed at the sting, but bit his tongue and endured it.

After drying it gently with a cloth, Souji bandaged up Yosuke's hand. When he was done, he applied pressure here and there, making sure it wasn't too tight or too loose. Still holding the injured hand, Souji said softly, "Be more careful next time. I don't want to bandage you up again."

Yosuke looked sullen, more disappointed than resentful. He didn't say anything.

"You could've broken something," Souji went on. "I don't want to see you hurt." He began to stroke the back of Yosuke's hand with his thumb. Yosuke's fingers curled a little.

A moment later, Yosuke finally spoke. "I was just..." he began. He stopped with a sigh. "Nevermind."

Souji squeezed his fingers lightly. "What is it?"

"Just wanted to..." Yosuke mumbled, bowing his head. "Impress you."

"With a totally sick wheelie?"

"...yeah."

There was a contemplative moment of silence after that. Then Yosuke lifted his head, eyes glinting. "It would've been cool if I'd been able to pull it off, though, right?"

"Yosuke," Souji chided, but he wore a lopsided grin.

"Right? Right?"

"I'd be more impressed," Souji said, "if you took better care of yourself." He lifted the injured hand pointedly.

Yosuke tugged his hand free of Souji's grasp and looked at it sheepishly. "Yeah, I get it. Thanks partner."


	2. Do you trust me?

[Author's notes: This was written for treyabarton on tumblr. It came from a prompt meme there. The prompt was "Do you trust me?"

A Yu Narukami version is available at Dreamwidth at the following address  
angevon dot dreamwidth dot org/50016 dot html  
Every 'dot' should be a '.']

* * *

Yosuke dropped everything he was doing when he received a text from Souji that said 'help' and nothing else. He texted back a quick 'where' while rushing down the stairs to Junes's first floor (the elevator was far too slow), abandoning his shift without even telling his dad. He'd worry about the fallout later.

'Floodplain' was Souji's reply. Yosuke unchained his bike, hopped on, and pedaled like his own life depended on it. Souji hadn't given him any details, so his mind was filling in the gaps with more and more extreme situations his partner could be in. He'd fallen in the river and couldn't swim. A flirty girl was being too forward and he needed an escape plan. One of the feral cats had given birth and the kittens would need homes. Some school bullies couldn't take the bowl cut anymore and decided to something about it with force.

Yosuke arrived at the flood plain in record speed. He scanned the area, but saw no sign of his partner. Souji would stand out, as tall and gangly as he was.

He whipped out his phone and sent another text, praying that Souji was in a situation in which he could text. Yosuke glanced over the river, rationalizing that he couldn't text and drown at the same time, so that couldn't be it... Distractedly, he looked at the sky. A few lazy clouds were drifting across the sky. One of them looked kind of like a popped collar.

After shaking his head to clear it, he rode his bike to the gazebo area. He knew Souji often met people there. No one was there right now, and there were no signs that anyone had been there today. Not even a candy wrapper left on the table.

It had been at least a minute since he'd sent the text and there was no response. In his growing worry Yosuke did what anyone would do in his place: he called instead.

"Come on, come on," he hissed at the phone, as if that'd make Souji answer faster. Souji's ringtone played faintly on the other end of the line.

Wait.

You weren't supposed to be able to hear the ringtone.

Yosuke whipped his head around, seeking the source of the sound. He tracked it to a big tree near the gazebo. The ringtone stopped sounding out as the call went to voicemail. Yosuke looked around, but Souji wasn't in immediate sight, and Yosuke didn't find his phone lying among the grass. Though there _was_ a cat relaxing against the base of the tree. It flicked its tail lazily as Yosuke stared at it. No... There was no way his partner had turned into a cat!

All of a sudden, something pinecone-sized fell out of the tree, missing Yosuke's head by mere inches. It landed with a thunk on the ground. He picked it up. It was Souji's phone.

Frowning, he shaded his eyes against the sun and looked up, and there was Souji, clinging like a koala to one of the highest branches of the tree.

"What the hell partner," Yosuke called up to him. "What are you even doing up there?"

"A cat... stuck..." Souji's voice was barely audible, and it trembled with a quality Yosuke had never heard before.

Yosuke glanced down at the relaxing cat. It was definitely on the ground and not stuck in a tree. "This one?"

"I climbed up to help it..." Souji explained slowly. "But then... It jumped down on its own... A-a-and now..."

It was hard to see from the distance, but it looked like Souji was grimacing.

"You're stuck," Yosuke concluded.

"...yeah."

Yosuke considered the situation. He was pretty damn high up. He wouldn't be able to jump down without hurting himself. And the way Souji was trembling-the wind picked up and he clung even tighter to the branch he was hugging as it swayed-he wouldn't be able to climb back down the way he'd come up. He was just too afraid. Yosuke knew if he climbed up there himself, well, then there'd be two boys stuck in a tree. And the added weight wouldn't be good for the branch.

He was considering calling the fire department to get a ladder when a simpler solution came to mind.

"Let yourself fall," Yosuke called. "I'll catch you."

Souji opened his eyes to peer down at him. Yosuke held his arms invitingly open. "N-no," he whimpered. "It's too far... I'll miss, a-a-and break my neck."

"Do you trust me?" Yosuke asked.

Souji squeezed his eyes shut. A moment later, he whispered a soft, "yes."

"Then," Yosuke said, "trust me. I'll catch you."

Souji shivered on the branch, making it sway a little. Then, very slowly and mechanically, he sat up. "R-ready?" he asked.

"Ready!" Yosuke called back, positioning himself right under his partner, arms open and ready.

Souji hesitated for a long time. Then he sighed, closed his eyes, and let himself fall. Yosuke caught him with an oomph, staggering back a few steps from the impact.

But Souji was all right and in his arms. Yosuke tried to set him on his feet, but he wasn't budging. Souji buried his face into Yosuke's chest. It made Yosuke want to smooth down his windswept hair, but his hands were occupied.

"You all right?" Yosuke asked softly.

"Was scared," Souji mumbled into his chest.

"Yeah, I bet. But don't worry, partner," Yosuke said. "I'll always be there to catch you."


End file.
